Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) is part of the
International Baccalaureate (IB) course for Years 12 and 13 students at
Garden International School, Rayong. GIS is the only school in the region
which offers the IB course to students who aim for an internationally
recognized and highly regarded educational credential.
Students
at Pala Temple School enjoying a language game constructed by CAS students
The CAS program, headed by Ms Sue Burke, involves
students planning their own activities and curriculum of learning. Such
activities may include sports, adventure activities, arts and crafts,
fundraising and helping the local community.
The main project CAS students at GIS are involved in is
teaching English at the Pala Temple School. In its third year, this
successful program has involved students visiting the school each week to
teach Thai children English. The CAS team has also organized fundraising
activities such as car washes, bake sales and ice-cream stalls to provide
a new nursery classroom, re-painted an English classroom and bought books
for the Temple School’s library.
The most recent CAS initiative has been
‘entertaining’ the primary children of GIS by providing them with
‘scary delights’ during Halloween festivities. The CAS students
transformed the Assembly room into a Haunted House complete with
appropriate lighting, music and tunnels to crawl through. They also
re-created their own personal appearance and became witches, mummies,
vampires and mad scientists. Perhaps the scariest of creatures which the
younger children encountered was the body-less head on a platter and the
living coffin. Screams and squeals could be heard, and they were not only
coming from the students. It must be mentioned that some of the teachers
were not immune to the scary surprises!
CAS
students in disguise as witches, goblins and vampires
While the aims of the CAS program are to develop new
skills, encourage self confidence, leadership and co-operation skills, as
well as promote a sense of responsibility to the local community, what
each student personally gains from the course is unique and different.
Morgan Robbins, an IB student who is now in his second year of the CAS
program has this to say about his personal experiences and outlook about
the course, “When I first started CAS I saw it as a pointless class, as
it did not directly endow students with IB points...However, through the
course, I now see CAS as preparing me for the working world. CAS is more
than just helping others and the community. It is also about learning
about yourself - about your limitations as well as using the potential you
have within you. For me, it has improved my own ‘people skills’.”
GIS and the local community of Ban Chang look forward
to what else these inspiring CAS students have in store for us.
Michael
McEvoy working with ISR primary students.
The
interschool program at Swinburne Tummasiri - LCSE has recently expanded to
provide sports for some of the more energetic female athletes enrolled at
the school. Recently the Swinburne Tummasiri Girl’s Volleyball team made
the trip out to the International School of the Eastern Seaboard (ISE) to
compete in an introductory goodwill competition. It was a close game, with
the slightly older girls of Swinburne Tummasiri claiming victory at the
end of 3 rounds.
Students
and experts in super diving gear